Complication, in medicine Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness, is an unfavorable evolution of a disease A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases, a health At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization , in 1948, health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" condition or a medical treatment. The disease can become worse in its severity or show a higher number of signs, symptoms A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality. A symptom is subjective, observed by the patient, and not measured or new pathological Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of organs, tissues, bodily fluids, and whole bodies . Pathology also encompasses the related scientific study of disease processes, called General pathology changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems. A medical treatment, such as drugs A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease or surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason. An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical procedure, operation, or simply may produce adverse effects In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect, and may result from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or procedure, which could be due to medical and/or produce new health problem(s) by itself. A new disease may also appear as a complication to a previous existing disease. Therefore, a complication may be iatrogenic The terms iatrogenesis and iatrogenic artifact refer to inadvertent adverse effects or complications caused by or resulting from medical treatment or advice. In addition to harmful consequences of actions by physicians, iatrogenesis can also refer to actions by other healthcare professionals, such as psychologists, therapists, pharmacists, nurses,, i.e., literally brought forth by the physician.
Medical knowledge about a disease, procedure or treatment usually entails a list of the most common complications, so that they can be foreseen, prevented or recognized more easily and speedily.
Depending on the degree of vulnerability, susceptibility, age Senescence or aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to that of the whole organism. There are a number of theories why senescence occurs including those that it is programmed by gene expression changes and that it is the accumulative, health status, immune system An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own healthy cells and tissues in order to function condition, etc. complications may arise more easily. Complications affect adversely the prognosis Prognosis is a medical term to describe the likely outcome of an illness. When applied to large populations, prognostic estimates can be very accurate: for example the statement "45% of patients with severe septic shock will die within 28 days" can be made with some confidence, because previous research found that this proportion of of a disease. Non-invasive There are three main categories which describe the invasiveness of surgical procedures. These are: non-invasive procedures, minimially invasive procedures, and invasive procedures and minimally invasive There are three main categories which describe the invasiveness of surgical procedures. These are: non-invasive procedures, minimially invasive procedures, and invasive procedures medical procedures usually favor fewer complications in comparison to invasive There are three main categories which describe the invasiveness of surgical procedures. These are: non-invasive procedures, minimially invasive procedures, and invasive procedures ones.
Examples of complications
- Generalized septicemia Sepsis is a serious medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues. An incorrect layman's term for sepsis is blood poisoning, more aptly applied to Septicemia, (infection of the blood) may occur as a complication of an infected wound In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin or abscess An abscess is a collection of pus (dead neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g., splinters, bullet wounds, or injecting needles). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious
- Allergic shock Circulatory shock, commonly known simply as shock, is a serious, life-threatening medical condition characterized by a decrease in tissue perfusion to a point at which it is inadequate to meet cellular metabolic needs. As the blood carries oxygen and nutrients around the body, reduced flow hinders the delivery of these components to the tissues, can be a reaction to several kinds of anesthetics Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , has traditionally meant the condition of having sensation (including the feeling of pain) blocked or temporarily taken away. This allows patients to undergo surgery and other procedures without the distress and pain they would otherwise experience. The word was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. in 1846. Another, as a complication in a surgery
- Fractured ribs In vertebrate anatomy, ribs are the long curved bones which form the ribcage. In most vertebrates, ribs surround the chest (Greek:θώραξ, Latin thorax) they enable lungs to expand by expanding the chest, they also protect the lungs, heart, and other internal organs of the thorax. In some animals, especially snakes, ribs may provide support and and sternum The sternum is a long flat bone (or, in some models, set of three bones) shaped like a capital 'T' located in the center of the thorax (chest). It connects to the rib bones via cartilage, forming the anterior section of the rib cage with them, and thus helps to protect the lungs, heart and major blood vessels from physical trauma may be a complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency procedure for people in cardiac arrest or, in some circumstances, respiratory arrest. CPR is performed in hospitals and in the community attempts in people suffering severe osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is disrupted, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered. Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in women as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations
- Puerperal fever Puerperal fever (from the Latin puer, male child ), also called childbed fever, can develop into puerperal sepsis, which is a serious form of septicaemia contracted by a woman during or shortly after childbirth, miscarriage or abortion. If untreated, it is life-threatening may be a common complication of childbirth Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus. The process of normal human childbirth is categorized in three stages of labour: the shortening and dilation of the cervix, descent and birth of the infant, and birth of the placenta.. In many cases, with an and used to kill a large proportion of mothers before the advent of antisepsis Antiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from antibiotics by their ability to be transported through the lymphatic system to destroy bacteria within the body, and from disinfectants, which destroy and antibiotics In common usage, an antibiotic is a substance or compound that kills, or inhibits the growth of, bacteria. Antibiotics belong to the broader group of antimicrobial compounds, used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungi and protozoa.[citation needed]
- Diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus —often referred to as diabetes—is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough, or does not properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin enables cells to absorb glucose in order to turn it into energy. This causes glucose to accumulate in the blood (hyperglycemia), leading to may present a series of complications in an advanced or more severe stage, such as gangrene Gangrene is a complication of necrosis characterized by the decay of body tissues, which become black (and/or green) and malodorous. It is caused by infection or ischemia, such as from thrombosis (blocked blood vessel). It is usually the result of critically insufficient blood supply (e.g., peripheral vascular disease) and is often associated with, diabetic foot Diabetic foot is an umbrella term for foot problems in patients with diabetes mellitus. Due to arterial abnormalities and diabetic neuropathy, as well as a tendency to delayed wound healing, infection or gangrene of the foot is relatively common. Ten to fifteen percent of diabetic patients develop foot ulcers at some point in their lives and foot, blindness Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors, infections An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host's resources to multiply, usually at the expense of the host. The infecting organism, or pathogen, interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss, etc.
- Thrombosis Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel is injured, the body uses platelets and fibrin to form a blood clot, because the first step in repairing it (hemostasis) is to prevent loss of blood. If that mechanism causes too much in the heart The heart is a muscular organ found in all vertebrates that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The term cardiac means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for "heart." or brain The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary, causing stroke A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function(s) due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of glucose & oxygen supply) caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage. As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more or acute myocardial infarction Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection can be complications of blood coagulation Coagulation is a complex process by which blood forms clots. It is an important part of hemostasis , wherein a damaged blood vessel wall is covered by a platelet and fibrin-containing clot to stop bleeding and begin repair of the damaged vessel. Disorders of coagulation can lead to an increased risk of bleeding (hemorrhage) or clotting (thrombosis) disorders, phlebitis When phlebitis is associated with the formation of blood clots , usually in the deep veins of the legs, the condition is called thrombophlebitis. These clots can travel to the lungs, causing pulmonary embolisms which can be fatal (inflammation of the veins In the circulatory system, veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the lungs; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood. They differ from arteries in structure and function; for example, arteries are more muscular than), endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures which may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendinae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices. Endocarditis is characterized by a prototypic lesion, the vegetation, and artificial heart valves An artificial heart valve is a device implanted in the heart of a patient with heart valvular disease. When one of the four heart valves malfunctions, the medical choice may be to replace the natural valve with an artificial valve. This requires open-heart surgery
- Eczema vaccinatum Eczema vaccinatum is a rare severe adverse reaction to smallpox vaccination is a rare and severe complication of smallpox Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple". The term "smallpox" was first used in Europe vaccination Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by a pathogen. Vaccination is generally considered to be the most effective and cost-effective method of preventing infectious diseases. The material administrated can either be live but weakened in people with eczema Eczema is a disease in a form of dermatitis, or inflammation of the epidermis. The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes that are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema , itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking,
- Hepatotoxic dementia is a possible complication of hepatitis Hepatitis implies inflammation of the liver characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from ancient Greek hepar (ἧπαρ), the root being hepat- (ἡπατ-), meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation" (c. 1727). The condition can be self-limiting, healing on its own, or can and liver cirrhosis Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease] characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules (lumps that occur as a result of a process in which damaged tissue is regenerated), leading to progressive loss of liver function. Cirrhosis is most commonly caused by alcoholism, hepatitis B and C,
- Mental retardation Mental retardation is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18. Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to individuals' is a common complication of untreated hydrocephalus
- A paradoxical reaction to a drug that is the totally the opposite effect of the intended purpose of the drug. As in "benzodiazepines" (pronounced [ˌbenzəʊdaɪˈæzəpiːnz], or "benzos" for short) a class of psychoactive drugs considered a minor tranquilizers with varying hypnotic, sedative, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant drug that may create exactly the opposite effect (paradoxical reaction) on susceptible individuals. [1]
- Erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence are prevalent to prostatectomy.
Related topic
- Adverse effect (medicine)
- Diagnosis
- Iatrogenesis
- Nocebo
- Placebo (origins of technical term)
- Prognosis
- Sequela
- Late effect
References
Categories: Medical terms
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Harvard University Gazette
This adds yet another complication to the battle against cancer in the poorer countries, he said. Society can indeed be a big player in medical battles, ...
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called ketoacidosis Dr Klaus Dieter Lessnau a professor at New York University School of Medicine and his colleagues report in the March 18 issue of the medical journal The Lancet Atkins diet favours proteins Ketoacidosis caused by excessively high levels of ketones in the blood can lead to death if untreated Ketones are produced by the liver from fatty acids which
Shannon P. Patrick MD
hu, 21 May 2009 23:52:36 GM
In the Western Journal of Emergency . Medicine. Patrick et al. study population of 100 patients, only two failures and no . complications. occurred. Using the approach described by Conroy et al., 16 Jones and Walters 17 reported successful ...
Q. how many of you have been put on anxiety medication for a short period of time...then were taken OFF the medication at some point and are now medication AND anxiety free? what was your original diagnosis...what kind of medication were you put on and how long were you on the medicine? any complications coming off the meds?
Asked by st4lkr - Fri Mar 7 01:06:34 2008 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments
A. I get random anxiety attacks, so when I feel them coming I take Xanax. It works really great, but is really only for as needed, not daily, because it is as addictive as heroin if it is taken too often...can be just as hard to get off of it.
Answered by SpaceTrekkie - Fri Mar 7 01:28:01 2008
